Garment steamer with inclinable ironing board

ABSTRACT

A garment steamer with an inclinable ironing board ( 100 ) comprises a base ( 10 ) and a support structure ( 50 ) that includes an upper part ( 51 ), a lower part ( 52 ) and an ironing board ( 60 ) attached to the upper part. The garment steamer further comprises an inclining structure ( 70 ) including an inclining linkage ( 80 ) that connects the upper and lower parts, wherein the upper part ( 51 ) is inclinable relative to the lower part ( 52 ) at an angle between horizontal and vertical. The inclining linkage ( 80 ) comprises first and second link arms ( 83,84 ) extending between and pivotably connecting with the upper and lower parts. The first link arm ( 83 ) is longer than the second link arm ( 84 ) such that upper part ( 51 ) assumes an inclined position relative to the lower part ( 52 ) when the upper and lower ends of the link arms ( 83,84 ) are pivoted about the upper and lower parts ( 51,52 ), respectively.

This application is the U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C.§371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2016/050243, filed on Jan.8, 2016, which claims the benefit of International Application No.15152230.7 filed on Jan. 23, 2015. These applications are herebyincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to garment steamers, particularly, relates togarment steamers with inclinable ironing board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional garment steamer offers a convenient way of removingwrinkles. However when compared to conventional ironing method, thelevel of wrinkle removal performance is much lower since there isnothing to support the hanged garment. Tough wrinkles cannot be pressedout like in the process of conventional ironing method which uses ahorizontal board to support the garment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a garment steamer 200 is introduced trying to solvethe above problem. The stand garment steamer 200 comprises a fixedvertical ironing board 210 for steaming. However, such vertical ironingboard 210 is not ergonomic and difficult to use, users have to operatein vertical direction, which is not comfortable. Furthermore, suchvertical ironing board 210 is very unstable, when exerting force ontothe ironing board 210, it tends to fall over. Therefore, this type ofgarment steamer cannot really support any significant pressing force forremoving wrinkles.

An ironing board for multifunctional use is known from US 2010/0095565.This document discloses an ironing board having a base and a body with awork surface which is connected to the base by a column. The column hasa tilting means for tilting the body about a tilting axis which extendsperpendicularly to the column.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to propose a stable and compact garmentsteamer with inclinable ironing board which can be inclined relative toits support structure.

The invention is defined by the independent claims. The dependent claimsdefine advantageous embodiments.

According to the present invention, a garment steamer with inclinableironing board is provided, the garment steamer comprises a base and asupport structure extending upwardly from the base, the supportstructure comprises an upper part and a lower part, an ironing board isattached to the upper part, an inclining structure comprising aninclining linkage that connects the upper part and the lower part insuch a way that the upper part is inclinable relative to the lower partand can be fixed in a position in which the upper part is inclined fromthe lower part at an angle between horizontal and vertical, wherein theinclining linkage comprises first and second link arms extendingside-by-side between the upper and lower parts of the support structure,each of the first and second link arms having an upper end pivotablyconnected to the upper part and a lower end pivotably connected to thelower part, the first link arm being longer than the second link armsuch that upper part assumes an inclined position relative to the lowerpart when the upper and lower ends of the link arms are pivoted aboutthe upper and lower parts, respectively, of the support structure.

Preferably, the incline angle is between 15 to 45 degrees relative tovertical direction, and a support structure extends upwardly from bothsides of the base. The inclining structure may be part of the supportstructure.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the firstinclining linkage comprises a top link rigidly connected to the upperpart of the support structure; a bottom link rigidly connected to thelower part of the support structure; wherein the upper ends of the firstand second link arms are pivotably connected to the top link and thelower ends of the first and second link arms are pivotally connected tothe bottom link.

In a preferred embodiment, the garment steamer comprises a sleevemounted to the support structure and slidable between a first positionin which it encloses the first and second link arms to hold the firstand second link arms in a first position in which the upper and lowerends of the link arms are free to pivot about the upper and lower parts,respectively, of the support structure. The incline angle may bedetermined by the difference in length of the first and second linkarms. Preferably, the top link is part of the upper part of the supportstructure, and the bottom link is part of the lower part of the supportstructure.

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a garment steamer with inclinable ironing board comprising abase, a support structures extending upwardly from the base, the supportstructure comprising an upper part and a lower part, an ironing boardattached to the upper part, an inclining structure, comprising aninclining linkage, connecting the upper part and the lower part in sucha way that the upper part is inclinable relative to the lower part andcan be fixed in a position in which the upper part is inclined from thelower part at an angle between horizontal and vertical, wherein theinclining linkage comprises: an upper link pivotably connected to anlower link, the lower link comprising a rounded end and a plurality ofrecesses radially defined in the rounded end; and a spring loadedplunger arranged inside the upper link, and biased against the roundedend of the lower link such that when the plunger is aligned to one ofthe recesses, it locates in said recess to lock the upper link in aninclined position relative to the lower link.

The upper link may be integral with, or rigidly connected to, the upperpart of the support structure. The lower link may be integral with, orrigidly connected to, the lower part of the support structure.

The incline angle may be determined by the angle between the recess andthe vertical direction. In one embodiment, a spring housing is securedinside the upper link, the plunger extends through the spring housing, aspring is housed in the spring housing and arranged between an innerface of the spring housing and a shoulder on the plunger in order toexert a spring force on the plunger.

By the inclining structure of the present invention, the ironing boardof the garment steamer can be inclined relative to the lower part of thesupport structure so that users can operate the steamer comfortably. Theincline angle can be fixed by employing the first inclining linkage, andalternatively the incline angle can be adjustable by employing thesecond inclining linkage. The support structure of the garment steamerwith inclinable ironing board can be implemented as a pair of supportpoles which extends upwardly from both sides of the base, which enablethe steamer to stand stably when force is exerted on the ironing board.A selected sized board can also strengthen the stability of the steamer.The support structure is preferably implemented as retractablestructure, when not in used, the inclining structure together with thesupport structure can be retracted in order to save storage space.

Detailed explanations and other aspects of the invention will be givenbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Particular aspects of the invention will now be explained with referenceto the embodiments described hereinafter and considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which identical parts or sub-stepsare designated in the same manner:

FIG. 1 shows a garment steamer with fixed vertical ironing board that isknown from a prior art;

FIG. 2 shows a garment steamer with inclinable ironing board withironing board which can be inclined via an inclining structure accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the inclining structure of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4A to 4C show the inclining process of the first inclining linkageshown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5A to 5C show a second embodiment of the inclining structure of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To make users feel comfortable when operating the garment steamer, itsironing board need to be ergonomic, which required the ironing board canbe inclined to a certain angle.

Referring to FIG. 2, the present invention proposes a garment steamerwith inclinable ironing board to meet the above requirement. The garmentsteamer with inclinable ironing board 100 comprises a base 10. A steamgenerator 20 is attached to or separately positioned from the base 10. Asteamer head 30 is connected to the steam generator 20 by a steam hose40. A support structure 50 extends upwardly from the base 10, thesupport structure 50 can be a pole. In a preferred embodiment, there aretwo poles extends upwardly from both sides of the base 10, and the polesare preferably retractable which can be retracted when they are not inuse in order to make the garment steamer compact. It is understandablethat the number of the pole and the position of the pole can be varieddepend on its size, the requirement of stability, and otherconsideration.

The support structure 50 has an upper part 51 and a lower part 52. Theupper part 51 and lower part 52 are connected via an inclining structure70. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the inclining structure70 is part of the support structure 50. In an alternatively embodimentof the invention, the inclining structure 70 is separate component whichis attached upper part 51 and lower part 52 of the support structure 50.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ironing board 60 isattached to the upper part 52 of the support structure 50. Therefore theironing board 60 moves together with the upper part 52. The incliningstructure 70 is connected to the support structure 50 such that theupper part 51 of the support structure 50 is inclined relative to thelower part 52 of support structure 50 and can be fixed in a position inwhich the upper part 51 is inclined from the lower part 52 at an anglebetween horizontal and vertical. As a result of being attached to andmoving together with the upper part 51 of the support structure 50, theironing board 60 is therefore inclined from the lower part 52 of thesupport structure 50 at an angle between horizontal and vertical. Theironing board 60 can be a full board, or for compact consideration, ahalf board or a board with a size within the footprint of the base 10.

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the inclining structure 70, which isdescribed here as a first inclining linkage 80.

The first inclining linkage 80 comprises a top link 81, a bottom link82, a front link 83, a rear link 84, and a sleeve 85. The upper part 51of the support structure 50 is rigidly connected to the top link 81. Thelower part 52 of the structure 50 is rigidly connected to the bottomlink 82. In a preferred embodiment, the top link 81 is part of the upperpart 51 of the support structure 50, and the bottom link 52 is part ofthe lower part 52 of the support structure 50. In an alternativeembodiment, the top link 81 and bottom link 82 are separate componentswhich are rigidly connected respectively to the upper part 51 and lowerpart 52.

The front link 83 and rear link 84 are, respectively, pivotablyconnected to a lower end of the top link 81 and an upper end of thebottom link 82. There is a height difference between the ends of thefront link 83 and rear link 84 at where they connect the top link 81 orthe bottom link 82. Therefore, when pivoting, the front link 83 and therear link 84 form a step which defines an incline angle between the toplink 81 and bottom link 82 which connect to the front link 83 and rearlink 84 respectively. Since the upper part 51 of the support structure50 is rigidly connected to the top link 81, and the lower part 52 of thesupport structure 50 is rigidly connected to the bottom link 82, theupper part 51 of the support structure 50 is therefore inclined from thelower part 52 of the support structure 50 at a predetermined inclineangle defined by said height difference. Furtherly, the ironing board 60attached to the upper part 51 of the support structure 50 moves togetherwith the upper part 51 and is therefore inclined from the lower part 52of the support structure 50 at a predetermined incline angle defined bysaid height difference. By varying the height difference, the inclineangle can be varied between horizontal and vertical. A comfortableincline angle for users' steaming operation is commonly from 15 to 45degrees, preferably 30 degrees.

The sleeve 85 is arranged slidably enclosing the top link 81, bottomlink 82, front link 83 and rear link 84 in a vertical position. Theoverall outside dimension of the top link 81, bottom link 82, front link83 and rear link 84, when in a vertical position, is smaller than theinner opening of the sleeve 85. This allows the sleeve 85 to slide up ordown along the top link 81, bottom link 82, front link 83 and rear link84. When the sleeve 85 slides to a first position where it encloses thefront link 83 and rear link 84, the front link 83 and rear link 84 areheld substantially in a vertical position without pivoting; when thesleeve 85 slides to a second position where it does not enclose thefront link 83 and rear link 84, that is, the front link 83 and rear link84 are exposed from the sleeve 85, the front link 83 and rear link 84pivot relative to the top link 81 and bottom link 82 so that a step isformed which leads to incline angle between the top link 81 and bottomlink 82, and therefore between the upper part 51 and lower part 52 ofthe support structure, and further between the ironing board 60 and thelower part 52 of the support structure 50.

Preferably, the overall outside size and profile of the sleeve 85 arethe same as the support structure 50, therefore, in the case of thesupport structure 50 is implemented as retractable pole, it enables thewhole first inclining linkage 80 to be refracted together with theretractable pole for a compact storage purpose.

FIG. 4A to 4C show the inclining process of the first inclining linkage80. Referring to FIG. 4A, the sleeve 85 is initially in the firstposition where it encloses the front link 83 and rear link 84, in thiscase, the front link 83 and rear link 84 are held inside the sleeve 85and cannot pivot, the first inclining linkage 80 is therefore locked ina vertical position. To release the first inclining linkage 80, thesleeve 85 slides upwardly to the second position where it clears boththe front link 82 and rear link 83. Referring to FIG. 4B, at the secondposition, the sleeve 85 is slightly pulled towards the front link 83 inorder to break the straight line of the first inclining linkage 80.After which, due to gravity, the weight of the top link 81, sleeve 85,upper part 51 of the support structure 50, and ironing board 60 willactuate the front link 83 and rear link 84 to pivot relative to the toplink 81 and bottom link 82. Referring to FIG. 4C, when the pivotingstops, a step is formed between the front link 83 and the rear link 84,the top link 81 is therefore inclined to an angle relative to the bottomlink 82.

To reset the first inclining linkage 80, the top link 81 is lifted up toa vertical position. Due to the connection between the top link 81 andthe front link 83 and rear link 84, the front link 83 and rear link 84are pulled up to a vertical position. Due to gravity, the sleeve 85drops down to a position where it encloses and holds the front link 83and rear link 84 so as to lock the top link 81 and bottom link 82 in avertical position without inclining.

FIG. 5A to 5C shows a second embodiment of the inclining structure 70,which is described here as a second inclining linkage 90. The first andsecond inclining linkages (80,90) may be used together or, they may beused independently.

The second inclining linkage 90 comprises an upper link 91 and a lowerlink 92, the upper link 91 is pivotably connected to the lower link 92via a pivot 93. The upper part 51 of the support structure 50 is rigidlyconnected to the upper link 91, and the lower part 52 is rigidlyconnected the lower link 92. In a preferred embodiment, the upper link91 is part of the upper part 51 of the support structure 50, and thelower link 92 is part of the lower part 52 of the support structure 50.In an alternative embodiment, the upper link 91 and lower link 92 areseparate components which are respectively rigidly connected to theupper part 51 and lower part 52 of the support structure 50.

The lower link 92 comprises a rounded end 921 which faces the upper link91 when the lower link 92 is connected to the upper link 91. A pluralityof recesses 922 are radially defined in the rounded end 921. Inside theupper link 91, a spring housing 94 is secured at a bottom of the upperlink 91. A plunger 96 extends through the spring housing 94, one end ofthe plunger 96 is fixed to a release button 97 arranged on a surface ofthe upper link 91, the other end of the plunger 96 rides along therounded end 921 of the lower link 92. The plunger 96 comprises ashoulder 961. A spring 95 is housed in the spring housing 94, one endabuts against an inner face of the spring housing 94, and the other endabuts against the shoulder 961 of the plunger 96.

When the upper link 91 pivots relative to the lower link 92, the plunger96 rides along the rounded end 921 of the lower link 92, when theplunger 96 is aligned to one of the recesses 922, the plunger 96 ispushed by the spring 95 to plug into the recess 922. In this case, theupper link 91 is locked in a position where it is inclined relative tothe lower link 92 at an incline angle. Since the upper part 51 of thesupport structure 50 is rigidly connected to the upper link 91, and thelower part 52 of the support structure 50 is rigidly connected to thelower link 92, the upper part 51 of the support structure 50 istherefore inclined from the lower part 52 of the support structure 50 atan incline angle defined by the angle between the recess 922 andvertical direction. Furtherly, the ironing board 60 attached to theupper part 51 of the support structure 50 moves together with the upperpart 51 and is therefore inclined from the lower part 52 of the supportstructure 50 at an angle defined by the angle between the recess 922 andvertical direction. The incline angle can be adjusted by aligning theplunger 96 to different recesses 922. To reset the upper link 91 andlower link 92 to vertical position, the release button 97 is pushedupward, the spring 95 is therefore compressed, and the plunger 96 isreleased from the recess 922. Preferably, a recess 922 is defined in avertical direction so that when the upper link 91 and lower link 92 isreset to the vertical position, they can be locked by the plunger 96plugging into this recess 922.

The width of the ironing board 50 of the present invention is preferablyequal to the width of a hanger of the garment steamer with inclinableironing board 100. The length of the ironing board 50 is preferablyshorter than or equal to the length of a typical top garment, forexample a shirt.

The above embodiments as described are only illustrative, and notintended to limit the technique approaches of the present invention.Although the present invention is described in details referring to thepreferable embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand thatthe technique approaches of the present invention can be modified orequally displaced without departing from the spirit and scope of thetechnique approaches of the present invention, which will also fall intothe protective scope of the claims of the present invention. In theclaims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps,and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. Anyreference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting thescope.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A garment steamer with inclinable ironingboard comprising: a base; a support structure extending upwardly fromthe base, wherein the support structure comprises an upper part, a lowerpart, and an ironing board attached to the upper part; and an incliningstructure, wherein the inclining structure comprises an inclininglinkage that connects the upper part and the lower part in such a waythat the upper part is inclinable relative to the lower part and can befixed in a position in which the upper part is inclined from the lowerpart at an angle between horizontal and vertical, wherein the inclininglinkage comprises front and rear link arms extending between andpivotably connecting with the upper and lower parts of the supportstructure, the front and rear link arms each having an upper endpivotably connected to the upper part and a lower end pivotablyconnected to the lower part, the front link arm having a length, asmeasured between the upper end and the lower end of the front link arm,that is longer than a length, as measured between the upper end and thelower end, of the rear link arm such that upper part assumes an inclinedposition relative to the lower part in response to the upper and lowerends, respectively, of both the front and rear link arms pivoting aboutthe upper and lower parts, respectively, of the support structure. 2.The garment steamer with inclinable ironing board according to claim 1,wherein the incline angle is between 15 to 45 degrees relative to avertical direction.
 3. The garment steamer with inclinable ironing boardaccording to claim 1, further comprising a support structure extendingupwardly from both sides of the base.
 4. The garment steamer withinclinable ironing board according to claim 1, wherein the incliningstructure is part of the support structure.
 5. A garment steamer withinclinable ironing board comprising a base, a support structureextending upwardly from the base, and an inclining structure, whereinthe support structure comprises an upper part, a lower part, and anironing board attached to the upper part, wherein the incliningstructure comprises an inclining linkage that connects the upper partand the lower part in such a way that the upper part is inclinablerelative to the lower part and can be fixed in a position in which theupper part is inclined from the lower part at an angle betweenhorizontal and vertical, wherein the inclining linkage comprises frontand rear link arms extending between the upper and lower parts of thesupport structure, the front and rear link arms each having an upper endpivotably connected to the upper part and a lower end pivotablyconnected to the lower part, the front link arm being longer than therear link arm such that upper part assumes an inclined position relativeto the lower part when the upper and lower ends of the front and rearlink arms are pivoted about the upper and lower parts, respectively, ofthe support structure, wherein said inclining linkage further comprises:a top link rigidly connected to the upper part of the support structure;a bottom link rigidly connected to the lower part of the supportstructure; wherein the upper ends of the front and rear link arms arepivotably connected to the top link and the lower ends of the front andrear link arms are pivotally connected to the bottom link.
 6. Thegarment steamer with inclinable ironing board according to claim 5,further comprising a sleeve mounted to the support structure andslidable between a first position in which it encloses the front andrear link arms to hold the front and rear link arms in a first positionin which the upper part is not inclined relative to the lower part and,a second position in which the upper and lower ends of the front andrear link arms are free to pivot about the upper and lower parts,respectively, of the support structure.
 7. The garment steamer withinclinable ironing board according to claim 6, wherein the incline angleis determined by the difference in length of the front and rear linkarms.
 8. The garment steamer with inclinable ironing board according toclaim 6, wherein the top link is part of the upper part of the supportstructure.
 9. The garment steamer with inclinable ironing boardaccording to claim 6, wherein the bottom link is part of the lower partof the support structure.
 10. The garment steamer with inclinableironing board according to claim 5, the incline angle is between 15 to45 degrees relative to vertical direction.
 11. The garment steamer withinclinable ironing board according to claim 5, comprising a supportstructure extending upwardly from both sides of the base.
 12. Thegarment steamer with inclinable ironing board according to claim 5,wherein the inclining structure is part of the support structure.
 13. Agarment steamer with inclinable ironing board comprising: a base; asupport structure extending upwardly from the base, the supportstructure comprising an upper part and a lower part; an ironing boardattached to the upper part; and an inclining structure, wherein theinclining structure comprises an inclining linkage configured to connectthe upper part and the lower part, wherein the upper part is inclinablerelative to the lower part and can be fixed in a position in which theupper part is inclined from the lower part at an angle betweenhorizontal and vertical, wherein the inclining linkage comprises: anupper link pivotably connected to a lower link, wherein the lower linkcomprises a rounded end and a plurality of recesses radially defined inthe rounded end, and a spring loaded plunger having a spring and beingarranged inside the upper link, wherein a first end of the spring loadedplunger is biased against the rounded end of the lower link, and whereinresponsive to the first end of the spring loaded plunger being alignedto one of the recesses, the first end of the spring loaded plungerlocates in the aligned recess, via an expansion of the spring, to lockthe upper link in an inclined position relative to the lower link, andwherein responsive to a compression of the spring via an upward forceapplied, via a release button, at a second end of the spring loadedplunger, the first end of the spring loaded plunger is released from thealigned recess.
 14. The garment steamer according to claim 13, whereinthe upper link is integral with, or rigidly connected to, the upper partof the support structure.
 15. The garment steamer according to claim 13,wherein the lower link is integral with, or rigidly connected to, thelower part of the support structure.
 16. The garment steamer withinclinable ironing board according to claim 13, wherein the inclineangle is determined by the angle between the recess and the verticaldirection.
 17. The garment steamer with inclinable ironing boardaccording to claim 13, wherein a spring housing is secured inside theupper link, the plunger extends through the spring housing, and a springis housed in the spring housing and arranged between an inner face ofthe spring housing and a shoulder on the plunger in order to exert aspring force on the plunger.
 18. A garment steamer with inclinableironing board comprising: a base; a support structure extending upwardlyfrom the base, wherein the support structure comprises an upper part anda lower part; an ironing board attached to the upper part; and aninclining structure, wherein the inclining structure comprises aninclining linkage that connects the upper part and the lower part insuch a way that the upper part is inclinable relative to the lower partand can be fixed in a position in which the upper part is inclined fromthe lower part at an angle between horizontal and vertical, wherein theinclining linkage comprises: an upper link pivotably connected to alower link, wherein the lower link comprises a rounded end and aplurality of recesses radially defined in the rounded end, and a springloaded plunger arranged inside the upper link, and biased against therounded end of the lower link such that when the plunger is aligned toone of the recesses, it locates in said recess to lock the upper link inan inclined position relative to the lower link, wherein an end of theplunger inside the upper link is connected to a release button, therelease button being operable to release the plunger from a recess. 19.The garment steamer according to claim 18, wherein the upper and lowerlinks comprise at least one selected from the group consisting of (i)the upper link is integral with, or rigidly connected to, the upper partof the support structure, (ii) the lower link is integral with, orrigidly connected to, the lower part of the support structure, and (iii)both the upper link and the lower link are integral with, or rigidlyconnected to, the upper part and the lower part, respectively, of thesupport structure.
 20. The garment steamer according to claim 18,wherein a spring housing is secured inside the upper link, the plungerextends through the spring housing, and a spring is housed in the springhousing and arranged between an inner face of the spring housing and ashoulder on the plunger in order to exert a spring force on the plunger.